The Forgiveness Dispenser

Ever found yourself in a situation like this? You’re tempted. You want to look at that image, vent criticism, gossip, cross that line, bend the truth, or whatever it is your flesh wants to indulge in. But you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, “Don’t go there!” Maybe you don’t hear a voice but you know it’s wrong. Right about then, that other voice kicks in saying, “He’ll forgive you.” Somewhere in the back of your mind you assure yourself of the mercy of God and it comforts you to know that He’ll still love and forgive you if you choose to do the wrong thing… and that comfort usually leads to the wrong decision.

I think sometimes when we struggle with a pattern of sin (secret or public) the answer can simply be found in how we view Jesus. If we stop at Savior, we’re missing so much of what He has for us. We have to accept and view Him as Lord, King, Giver of Life, Best Thing of All! When we approach him simply as a free ticket to heaven, mere fire insurance, we miss out. Plain and simple. He’s so much more and when we give Him Lordship, we receive that abundant life He spoke of. In the end, it’s not so much of a sin problem as it is a Lordship problem. Lordship leads to who and what we bend our lives around.

How do you view Jesus? A.W. Tozer once wrote “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” How you view Jesus will change how you live, where you live, and whether you truly live but you have to want more than simply a forgiveness dispenser.

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.” – Philippians 3:8-9a

* My apologies to all those who commented on this post. I lost it during maintenance and had to repost it. Feel free to comment again!